"Julie's salon isn't far from here, is it?" Connor asked casually.
"No," Nathan said tightly.
"Shopping center one block over, huh?"
Nathan turned to look at Connor, his eyes narrowed to slits. "Cut the crap, Connor. Unless you're wanting to schedule a hair appointment, why the hell do you care where Julie's salon is?"
"Or a massage," Connor said innocently. "I guess I could always get my ear pierced like you and pussy boy Hudson."
"Pussy boy Hudson would kick your ass and you know it," Nathan said with a grin.
"Nah, he's old and rusty."
Nathan snorted. "And you aren't? You've gotten soft since getting out."
"Julie's different," Connor said, pulling the conversation back to her again. It was starting to annoy the shit out of Nathan.
"What do you mean, different?"
Connor shrugged. "You know what I mean. She's .. . rounder, a little on the plump side. You usually date the tall, lean blonde types."
Nathan stared at him agape. Plump? Was he trying to insinuate that Julie was fat?
Connor glanced over at him and cocked an eyebrow. "Why do you look so appalled, man?"
"What the hell are you trying to say?"
"Just that she's not your usual type. She's got hips, breasts."
"She's fucking perfect," Nathan growled. "Ain't a goddamn thing wrong with her." Hips and breasts. Was Connor sitting there seriously criticizing Julie's attributes? If he wasn't driving, Nathan would kick his ass on the spot.
"I wasn't badmouthing her, dude. Just citing the differences."
"How about you don't even fucking look at her, and you won't have to worry about her differences."
Connor chuckled and held up one hand in surrender.
"Hey, speak of the devil. Isn't that her?"
Nathan blinked at the abrupt change in topic but looked in the direction of Connor's attention. Sure enough, Julie's sporty convertible darted into traffic from the on-ramp and surged ahead three cars.
Her hair blew behind her head, whipping in the wind like strands of silk. She handled the little car like a pro, and she obviously enjoyed the ride. There was a hint of daredevil in her as she weaved back and forth in the busy traffic.
"On second thought, I can see why you're hot for her," Connor murmured as he accelerated to keep up. "Something about a chick in a hot car."
Nathan rolled his eyes. Julie could be driving a grandma car and Nathan would still be hot for her.
Ahead, Julie moved over to the far right lane and put her blinker on to exit. At that precise moment a truck came barreling up the on-ramp and T-boned the small car without ever coming close to yielding.
"Son of a bitch!" Nathan yelled.
Julie's car spun crazily into traffic, and cars scattered across four lanes in an effort to avoid a collision. The asshole driving the truck never even slowed. He careened wildly around several cars, regained control and roared off.
Julie slammed into the far left concrete divider and came to a halt.
In a maneuver eerily reminiscent of Julie's crazy skitter across the freeway, Connor roared over, executing a sharp U-turn and narrowly missing an eighteen-wheeler that had slowed when the accident occurred.
Nathan was out and running as soon as Connor came to a stop. Connor was already on the phone. Nathan's only thought was to get to Julie.
The car was facing the wrong way and the battered passenger side rested against the concrete dividers. Julie's head lolled to the side, blood dripping from a cut above her eye. So much for the goddamn airbags.
He glanced around and then to the steering wheel. It was the only thing she could have hit her head on. Thank God she'd worn her seatbelt.
"Julie? Julie, honey, can you hear me?"
A soft moan was her only response.
He touched her shoulder, too afraid to touch her anywhere else. He didn't want to jostle her or have her move her neck unnecessarily. If she hit the steering wheel, she'd have a hell of a case of whiplash and who knows what kind of neck or back injuries.
Her eyes flickered open and she stared fuzzily back at him.
"Nathan?" she whispered.
"Yes, honey, it's me."
Her brow crinkled in confusion and pain. "Am I dead?"
His gut clenched at even hearing such a thing.
"No, you're not dead. I need you to stay with me, though, okay? Can you keep those gorgeous eyes open until the ambulance gets here?"
By now more than one person had stopped. Two cars had parked in the inside lane to keep traffic diverted around Julie's car, a fact he was grateful for. The last thing he wanted was for them to get plowed again, and he wasn't going to leave her nor was he going to move her out of the car.
In the distance, sirens wailed, which meant either the cops or the ambulance was already en route. The sooner they got Julie the hell off the freeway, the better he'd feel.
"Am I going to be all right?" she asked anxiously, her eyes focusing unsteadily on him. "I don't feel so well."
Panic surged through his system. He reached tentatively for her hand, doing a quick look to see if there were any obvious injuries before curling his fingers gently around hers.
"You're going to be fine, honey. I promise."
Please don't let him have just handed her a huge lie.
Connor hurried up to stand next to Nathan. "Don't move her. Wait for the ambulance."
Nathan tempered his irritation. Connor was only doing what was best for Julie. "I know. I'm just trying to keep her calm."
Connor leaned over to stare at the blood seeping down Julie's face. "Julie, sweetheart, do you hurt anywhere else but your head?"
She clutched at Nathan's fingers a little tighter, her pupils dilating a bit in fear. That had to be good, right? He remembered one thing about head injuries. It was good if the pupils were equal and reactive. And she was awake. Not entirely lucid, but she'd just had the shit scared out of her. He could hardly expect her to act normally.
"I don't know. My head hurts." Her brow wrinkled in concentration. "My shoulder, I think." She glanced down and both Connor and Nathan shouted a quick no.
She blinked in confusion.
"Don't move your neck, honey," Nathan said soothingly. "Try and stay as still as possible." He rubbed his thumb across her knuckles and tried to ease the shaking in her hand.
Connor nudged Nathan's arm. "The ambulance just pulled up."
Connor moved out of the way, but Nathan stayed with Julie, holding her hand until the paramedics hurried up and asked him to step aside.
Though he hated to get too far away from her, he was only in the way as they began the process of extricating her from the car.
Two policemen were talking to Connor, and Connor called him over.
"He and I both witnessed it," Connor explained when Nathan walked up.
"Yeah," Nathan said distractedly as he looked back to see the progress they were making with Julie. "I got the plates on the truck that hit her."
"I'd like your statement," one of the police officers said as he stepped away from Connor and the other cop.
"Uh, look, can it wait? I want to go to the hospital with her."
The cop gave him a curious look. "You know her?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Let me have your contact information. If I don't catch you at the hospital, I'll get in touch with you later this afternoon. We'll need what information you can give us so we can prosecute this as a hit and run."
"Damn right," Nathan growled. "The son of a bitch wasn't looking where he was going and then he left without even slowing down. I'd like to ring his damn neck."
One of the paramedics motioned for Nathan. They had Julie on a stretcher and were wheeling her toward the ambulance.
"Go. I'll get with you later."
"Thanks," Nathan said as he sprinted to the back of the ambulance.